WHAT:"The Changing World of University Governance," a two-day symposium in honor of Clark Kerr, the former University of California president and UC Berkeley chancellor who is among the most internationally renowned observers on the role of higher education in society.

Kerr, who celebrates his 90th birthday this month and is completing his memoirs, led UC Berkeley and the entire UC system during the tumultuous late 1950s and 1960s. The first volume of his memoirs of that period - "The Gold and the Blue: Volume 1: Academic Triumphs" - will be released this fall by University of California Press.

Kerr's previous writings on higher education leadership, organization and governance provide the framework for the symposium. Top education leaders will discuss the future of higher education and the need for leadership.

Richard Atkinson, president, University of CaliforniaRobert M. Berdahl, chancellor, UC BerkeleyGerhard Casper, president emeritus, Stanford UniversityLaura D.Tyson, dean, UC Berkeley's Haas School of BusinessDavid Ward, incoming president of American Council on EducationJames J. Duderstadt, president emeritus, University of MichiganDavid Gardner, president emeritus, University of California

BACKGROUND:Clark Kerr, born May 17, 1911, in Stony Creek, Pennsylvania, joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1945 as an associate professor of industrial relations. In 1952, he was appointed to the newly created position of UC Berkeley chancellor and, from 1952-1958, guided the scope and organization of that position and helped direct the campus's physical growth. In 1958, he became president of the UC system. He spearheaded California's Master Plan for Higher Education, a 1960 document that endures to this day and is considered a model plan by many states and other nations. While leading the UC's expansion to three new campuses, Kerr also wrestled with growing campus unrest including the Free Speech Movement. Under pressure by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, the UC Board of Regents fired Kerr in 1967. He went on to lead the influential Carnegie Commission on Higher Education from 1967-1980.